Susan: Since you gave Joy such excellent advice, I'm going to try my luck. I believe the father of my Cavan greatgrandmother was born in Armagh, along with his three brothers. Their names were James, John, Thomas and Edward Johnston and they were Catholic. In the CSI index, I find 4 James Johnstons, 4 Johns, and 2 Thomases from around the right period (no Edwards). If I knew the parishes, I might be able to figure out which parish the three came from and order the microfilm. Paying 20 euro apiece for 10 records is beyond my budget. Can you suggest another way to simply learn the parishes? Diane

Diane, have you tried poking around the PRONI site? It is a huge site, supposedly (one of) the bible of Irish research, but I always have a hard time working my way through it--very frustrating, as I feel like the answers might be there, if only I could figure out how to reach it :). And Cavan is one of the Ulster counties. Nancy

Diane, No, I don't know how to learn the Parishes without paying, that is the down side. I like using it where I have the Parish records already, and as I start expanding into other relatives' branches, I can do a quick index search to at least give me some years to look at. The handwriting can be hard to read on some old records, so anything helps to ease the eye strain! The marriage records have also helped me determine whether or not there is one at all, if the bride was from a different parish, or if they just aren't to be found. So if you don't know what northern Irish county to look in, the web site can help. Some people who can afford it have been able to find their ancestors, so that is the up side. The only thing I can think of to help you save money is to order just one of the Thomas records - it should give you a Parish and then you can at least start somewhere. (But it won't hurt to ask, when ordering, if both Thomases are in the same parish, so that you won't have to go through this again. Or ask if all the Johnstons are in the same Parish. The response might say yes or no, or actually list the Parishes in their reply. You can hope anyway!) Best of luck, Susan Cavan records web site: https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/csi/csi.cfm?CountyID=4 On 1/27/07, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > Susan: > > Since you gave Joy such excellent advice, I'm going to try my luck. I believe > the father of my Cavan greatgrandmother was born in Armagh, along with his > three brothers. Their names were James, John, Thomas and Edward Johnston and > they were Catholic. In the CSI index, I find 4 James Johnstons, 4 Johns, and 2 > Thomases from around the right period (no Edwards). If I knew the parishes, I > might be able to figure out which parish the three came from and order the > microfilm. Paying 20 euro apiece for 10 records is beyond my budget. Can you > suggest another way to simply learn the parishes? > > Diane